https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/132/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cubs-future-infield-roster-michael-busch-christopher-morel/Things are far from settled on the positional side for the Chicago Cubs this year. Two of the biggest bats still on the market - Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman - are premier fielders at the two most unsettled spots in the Cubs’ lineup: first base and third base. There’s been plenty said about B...622Sat, 24 Feb 2024 15:30:31 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/if-an-expansion-draft-happened-this-spring-whom-should-the-chicago-cubs-protect-r617/The last time baseball expanded was in 1998, with the addition of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. This brought the total of Major League Baseball teams to 30. Similarly, the NBA expanded to 30 teams in 2004 after expanding to 29 in 1995. The NFL expanded to 32 teams in 2002. T...617Fri, 23 Feb 2024 16:12:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/chicago-cubs-2024-spring-training-storylines-hayden-wesneskis-role-r621/Following a 2022 debut in which he threw 33 innings, accumulated 0.7 FanGraphs WAR, and posted a 2.18 ERA, expectations were always going to be far too high for Hayden Wesneski coming into 2023. Then, the young right-hander struck out 22 hitters in just 17 spring training innings last year to ea...621Fri, 23 Feb 2024 12:18:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/chicago-cubs-2024-x-factors-winning-without-velocity-in-the-rotation-r619/Even at the peak of their domination over the rest of the league (circa 2015 and 2016), the Cubs didn't beat people with sheer power. Jake Arrieta certainly threw hard, but it was (first) Jon Lester and (later) Kyle Hendricks who defined the team's approach and embodied their formula for victory...619Thu, 22 Feb 2024 12:19:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/is-tom-ricketts-lying-or-are-cubs-about-to-spend-big-r620/In a brief scrum with reporters (an annual rite of spring for most of the league's owners), Tom Ricketts talked about why he's not closely involved in the Cubs' pursuit of Cody Bellinger, and about what he told the team heading into spring training. The money quote (pun intended), though, was th...620Wed, 21 Feb 2024 22:56:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/christopher-morel-third-base-defense-spring-training-options/Minor-league outfield signings serving as a potential Cody Bellinger contingency notwithstanding, perhaps the biggest Chicago Cubs news to emerge from the extended weekend was that they would give Christopher Morel a prolonged run at third base this spring. We (obviously) do not know what s...618Wed, 21 Feb 2024 12:52:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/2024-chicago-cubs-x-factors-what-impact-can-cade-horton-have-in-2024-r598/Cade Horton's 2023 went as well as anyone could have hoped. Not only did Horton show that he was healthy, he tore through the minors, starting in Myrtle Beach, ripping up South Bend, and finishing with the Tennessee Smokies as their de facto ace, starting two of their playoff games. Horton showe...598Tue, 20 Feb 2024 12:19:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/spring-training-position-battles-rotation-assad-wesneski-wicks-smyly/  As things currently stand, there are four Cubs who are locked into their places in the rotation following their 2023 seasons:  Justin Steele (2023 stats - 30 GS, 173.1 IP, 3.06 ERA, 3.02 FIP, 176 SO, 3.8 WAR) Kyle Hendricks (2023 stats - 24 GS, 137.0 IP, 3.74 ER...614Mon, 19 Feb 2024 12:12:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/you-have-to-stop-talking-about-a-winter-deadline-for-hot-stove-movement-r616/It's not your fault that you feel aggrieved and insane at the end of this long, quiet MLB winter. You've been programmed, and much of the programming has been involuntary. The world has slowly become very fast in its processing of everything, and in our rush to banish boredom, we've pulverized p...616Sun, 18 Feb 2024 15:42:34 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/while-mlbs-embrace-of-fanatics-is-bad-these-new-uniforms-might-be-good-r615/I have to lead with a confession, here: I have never bought a baseball jersey. I doubt that will ever change. I used to buy player t-shirts (shirseys), but I even stopped that about a decade ago. I don't want to tell fans or players how to react to the look of a uniform, or certainly about the f...615Sun, 18 Feb 2024 12:28:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cubs-can-win-nl-central-2024-season/The last time the Cubs won the division was in 2020, or the shortened, 60-game pandemic season. Before then, it was in 2017, the year they were outclassed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. For all the talk about how great the last Cubs’ competitive window under Theo Epstein was, they only...613Sat, 17 Feb 2024 15:08:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/2024-chicago-cubs-spring-training-position-battles-the-bullpen-r612/Quietly, the Cubs have locked in over half their bullpen for 2024, assuming health and a reasonable amount of performance carryover from 2023. Adbert Alzolay, Julian Merryweather, and Mark Leiter Jr. anchored the North Siders'  relief unit last year, and the one closest to not making the roster...612Fri, 16 Feb 2024 16:10:01 +0000